Famous coffee houses

From the only range of coffee makers to give you the true coffee house taste at home a list of highly recommended coffee houses throughout Europe.

Café Einstein, Berlin

Café Einstein has cult status in Berlin. Situated in a former villa that used to house a casino, Café Einstein was refurbished in the style of a traditional Vienna coffee house for its reopening in 1996.

Café de Flore, Paris

Opened around 1890, Café de Flore is located in the unique Saint-Germain-Des-Prés district of Paris. From the early years of the 20th century, Café de Flore was a popular meeting place for intellectuals, writers, painters, publishers and filmmakers. Its regular guests included Apollinaire, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Giacometti, Hemingway and Picasso. The current furbishing dates back to the 1924-26 period.

Café Procope, Paris

Café Procope, the oldest coffee house in Paris, is located right at the heart of the famous Quartier Latin. Established in 1686, it claims to be the world’s oldest existing restaurant. From rather dubious beginnings, Café Procope developed into a meeting place for the intellectual establishment of the 18th century, including Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Alexander von Humboldt and George Sand were among the famous 19th-century regulars. In 1989 Café Procope was refurbished in 18th-century style.

Caffè Greco, Rome

Caffè Greco can justifiably claim to be the coffee house of Goethe, Wagner, Mendelssohn, Stendhal, Liszt and Casanova – quite a collection! Located only a stone’s throw away from the Spanish Steps, Caffè Greco was opened on 1760. When Goethe was travelling through Italy in 1786, he enjoyed his coffee here and the atmosphere has proved an inspiration to many a creative spirit ever since.

Café Hawelka, Vienna

Café Hawelka is one of the few remaining traditional Central European coffee houses. It has been frequented by writers and artists such as Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Ernst Fuchs, Helmut Qualtinger, Oskar Werner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Georg Danzer and André Heller. The Café’s artistic atmosphere in Vienna’s city centre is popular with tourists and locals.

Café Central, Vienna

Opened in 1860, Café Central became a popular meeting place for Vienna’s intellectual elite, including Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Anton Kuh and Adolf Loos. Up to 1938, the Café was known as the "Chess School" because so many chess players were regulars. One of them was the Russian revolutionary Leo Trotzky. Fully refurbished in 1986, it is still an extremely popular café, especially among visitors to Vienna.

Café NewYork, Budapest

Around the turn of the 20th century, Budapest was home to more than 500 coffee houses, including the Hungarian capital’s oldest, Café New York, which first opened in 1894. Like the majority of these coffee houses, Café New York was destroyed in World War II but in May 2006 the Café reopened in all its former glory with an inviting gallery, sophisticated ball lamps and ceilings decorated with frescos.

Café Nouveau Obecni Dum, Prague

This Art Deco Café in the basement of the Obecni Dum (House of Representatives) next to Prague’s Powder Tower is an absolute gem. It is close to a number of museums, various restaurants and the Smetana Hall, where independence was proclaimed on October 28, 1918 and the first Czech statutes were adopted.

Café Slavia, Prague

Since opening in 1863, Café Slavia has been one of the most popular restaurants and cafés in the Czech capital. Located opposite the National Theatre, the Café is popular with Prague’s acting community. In the past it was also frequented by famous writers such as Franz Kafka, Rainer Maria Rilke and the 1984 Nobel Prize Winner, Jaroslav Seifert, and composers such as Smetana and Dvorak.

Literaturhaus Café, Hamburg

Although the first coffee house opened in Hamburg in 1677 (before Vienna), the North German city has not been renowned for its coffee house scene since. However, the opening of the Literaturhaus Café in 1989 brought Hamburg not just a genuine Central European-style coffee house but also a forum for readings by writers from all over the world. Around 90 events a year have given this café and restaurant a reputation as “the philosophers’ café”.